Butane fueled lighter having throwaway plastic canister



Oct 13, 1964 R. s. PIFFATH 3,152,450

BUTANE FUELED LIGHTER HAVING THROW-AWAY PLASTIC CANISTER Filed Aug. 29, 1962 Lua 1 00o FIG. 4

3 l 36 If g I4 22 I9 23 g2 30 2 2 24 lil '8 2m S? Il Vf l? lNvENToR United States Patent O York Filed Aug. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 220,305 S Claims. (Cl. 67-7.1)

This invention relates lgenerally to lighters and specifically to an improved lighter having certain unique disposable and permanent parts and one which is constructed for extremely economical manufacture,

In accordance with the invention, I have devised a lighter having two major components parts, the first cornprising a canister body or .pressurized fuel container which may be advantageously and economically molded of high impact plastic or the like as a throw-away when depleted; and the second comprising a compact striker head and valve assembly which is secured to the plastic body of the lighter by a single screw thread attachment. A primary aspect of the invention resides in the combination of functions performed by the aforementioned screw thread attachment by which the screw and the mating plastic thread of the body together form a regulatory adjustment means for controlling the rate of iiow of a pressurized fuel contained within the canister body of the lighter. The screw also comprises a piercing element for rupturing an internal diaphragm seal within the body when the striker head and body are initially assembled. The construction of the lighter as a whole is such that the striker head forms a relatively Small portion of the total size of the lighter, thereby permitting the plastic canister body to hold a relatively large quantity of fuel. As a consequence, replacement of the depleted plastic canister body will normally be infrequent and may be made by substituting a new plastic canister refill at minimum expense.

In the following description, reference is made by way of a non-limiting example, to one form of construction of a lighter devised in accordance with the invention and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the new lighter;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional elevation;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawing, the reference numeral designates a lighter constructed according to the principles of the invention, which includes two major cornponent parts, namely, a plastic canister body 11 and a striker head assembly 12. The body 11 is primarily a container for housing a quantity of liquid fuel 13, in a chamber under pressure. The body 11 may be molded of high impact styrene, for example, by conventional molding processes. The relative Size of the body 11 with respect to the striker head assembly 12 is quite great thereby permitting the interior of the body to contain a commensurately large quantity of fuel. After the body 11 has been molded, the chamber 15 will be charged with a liquid fuel such as butane which will be admitted therein in a super-cooled state through the base opening 11a. Following this operation, the plug 11b will be threaded into the opening and a seal or packing 11C inserted thereafter. When the temperature of the butane fuel 13 rises to standard room temperature, the pressure in the chamber 15 will be approximately four atmospheres.

The body 11 includes a central wall section 14. A length of tube 416, depends therefrom, and receives internally a wick 17 of a suitable fibrous material. The wall section 14 defines a spherical chamber 18, into which the wick 17 extends and which communicates with the tube ICC 16 through an intermediate vertical passage 18a. The section 14 further defines a horizontal, threaded bore 20. Intermediate the bore 20 and chamber 18 is a plastic diaphragm 19 (see FIG. 2). During assembly of the striker head assembly 12 and the body 11, the bore 20 will receive a correspondingly threaded screw member 21 having a sharp cylindrical point 22. As will be seen by successively comparing FIGS. 2 and 4, the screw member 21 will be threaded into the bore 20 until the point 22 pierces and ruptures the diaphragm 19, thereby releasing fuel under pressure into the bore 20'. Continued inward translation of the screw 21 may be effected to abut the fiat end 21a of the screw against a terminal shoulder 23 of the bore 20, thereby sealing the ilow of fuel from the ruptured diaphragm.

The threads of the bore 20 and of the screw 21 define a continuous helical clearance for the passage of fuel from the chamber 18 into the striker head 12 for ignition therein, as will be explained. The position of the screw member 21 in the bore 20 may be changed to regulate the flow of gas about the helical convolutions or threads, a relatively greater amount of flow being effected as a controlled leakage by decreasing the effective thread connecting area between the screw 21 and the bore 20.

The screw member 21 also forms the sole means for attaching the striker head 12 to the body 11. The screw 21 is received within an oversized cylindrical fuel passage 26 within the lower end of the striker head assembly and when threaded into the bore 20 will draw the striker head toward the body 11. Seals 24 and 25 are provided to prevent leakage, respectively past the head of the screw and between the striker head and the adjacent portion of the body 11. As seen in FIG. 3, the striker head 12 is received intermediate two side wall sections 28, -29 formed integrally with the body 11 which afford lateral support thereto. The striker head 12 is therefore held securely against and Within adjacent portions of the body 11 solely through the agency of the screw 21.

When the parts are in the position of FIG. 4, fuel om the chamber 15 will be permitted to flow through the wick 17 and into the chamber 18. During this process, the fuel will essentially continue in its liquid state; however, as the pressurized fuel is forced from the chamber 18, toward and around the convolutions of the screw 21, the fuel will expand into a gas and will pass into the chamber or bore 26 as indicated by the arrows. Leading from the chamber 26 is a vertical fuel passage 30 and immediately thereabove, a valve chamber 31. The chamber 31 encloses a pin valve 32 having a piston like base 33 mounting a flat seal 34 which covers the orifice leading to the passage Sil. The sides of the valve chamber 31 are formed by a sleeve 36 having an upper end which defines an orifice 36a which receives the metering portion of the pin end 37 of the valve 32.

In order to assu-re that the pin valve 32 is maintained in the position shown in FIG. 4 until the user wishes to ignite the lighter, I have provided a pivotal valve release 38 (see FIGS. 1 and 4) consisting of an L-shaped member which is mounted to the striker head proper by a pivot pin 40. A leaf spring 42 is attached internally to the outer leg 39 of the valve release 38 by a rivet 41. The spring 42 has a contoured or dished-in section 42a which will ride upon the upper end of the pin valve when the-valve release is in the position shown in FIG. 4. When in this position, the valve 32 is depressed and the seal 34 is tightly held over the passage 30 to prevent gas from owing into the valve chamber 31. When the user wishes to ignite the fuel, he will ilip the valve release 38 outwardly to the phantom line position shown in FIG. 1, thereby permitting gas under pressure from chamber 26 and passage 30 to lurge the pin valve 32 upwardly. Thereafter, gas will iiow into the chamber 31 through the orifice 36a and into an ignition chamber 44 provided above the pin valve. In order to ignite the gas, I provide a conventional striker wheel 46 and fiint 48. The fiint is held resiliently against the striker wheel 46 by a spring 49 located within a bore 50 at the upper end of the body 11.

Should the user wish to increase the height of the flame, he need merely turn the screw 21 fto decrease the area of thread contact between the threaded portion of `the screw 21 and the bore 20. This will have the effect of diminishing the resistance to the flow of gas past the restriction caused by the mating contact between the screw and threaded bore, thereby increasing the quantity of gas entering the valve chamber 31. It will be noted that the spring 50 which urges the fiint against the striker wheel 46 further performs the function of resiliently supporting the upper end of the striker head assembly 12, which except for this spring contact, is slightly separated from the plastic body 11 of the lighter. Because of the relative adjustability of the screw 21 and the fact that the screw is used for attaching the striker head to the body 11 as well as to provide a gas regulatory feature, the seals 24 and 25 should be relatively resilient and adequate to prevent leakage during the normal range of translatory adjustment of the screw 21. It may be further noted that the force exerted upon rotation of the striker wheel 46 by the user will be absorbed substantially entirely by the sides 28, 29 of the body 11 since these closely engage the sides of the striker head 12 in the lateral direction. There will therefore be no possibility of twisting the striker head with respect to the body 11 when the lighter is in use notwithstanding the single screw connection between the body 11 and striker head 12.

The advantage of the foregoing construction primarily resides in the extraordinary economy with which the device may be manufactured while still maintaining a high degree of reliability and safety. The all plastic construction of the canister body 11, especially lends itself to containing a pressurized liquid fuel such as butane under pressure without leakage. The cost of manufaoturing a charged canister is estimated to be a very small fraction of the cost of prior comparable butane filled bodies and the design is such that nearly all of the body 11 is devoted to containing the liquid fuel. The foregoing structural features in combination permit the body 11 to be made disposable. Furthermore, the fact that 4the body 11 is of plastic permits more efficient adjustment of the flow rate of the gaseous fuel past the threaded bore and screw 21 due to the resilient properties of the plastic. Using a butane gas, which has very high wetting properties, the combination of plastic threads and metal is very desirable and when tolerances are properly controlled will provide, at a minimum cost, an extremely efficient metering system.

It will be understood that the foregoing description relates to a particular embodiment and is therefore merely representative. In order fully to appreciate the spirit and scope of the invention, reference should be made to the appended claims in which:

I claim:

l. A lighter comprising a canister body, said body defining a chamber adapted to contain a quantity of fuel under pressure, a threaded bore in said body communicating with said fuel, a striker head, fuel passage means in said head in communication with said bore upon assembly of said striker head to said body, a screw member received in said fuel passage means and threadably received in said bore, means preventing relative rotation between said striker head and body, said screw member upon continued translation into said bore exerting a clamping effect and comprising the sole attaching connection between said body and said head, said threaded bore and said screw defining a continuous helical clearance for the controlled transmission of fuel past said threaded bore and into said fuel passage means, second fuel passage means in said striker head for conducting fuel to a position where the fuel may be ignited, and means carried by the striker head for igniting said fuel.

2. A lighter comprising a canister body defining a chamber adapted to contain a quantity of liquid fuel under pressure, a threaded bore in said body communieating with said fuel, a striker head, fuel passage means in said head in communication with said bore upon assembly of said striker head to said bore, a screw member received in said fuel passage means and simultaneously received in said bore, means preventing relative rotation between said striker head and body, diaphragm means across the internal terminus of said bore for sealing said bore from said fuel under pressure, said screw member having a piercing element at one end thereof to rupture said diaphragm upon continued translation into said bore thereby to release fuel from said chamber into said bore, said screw member and striker head being also mutually constructed to cause the screw member to exert a clamping effect between said body and striker head, said screw member comprising the sole attaching connection between said body and said head, said threaded bore and said screw defining a continuous helical clearance for the controlled translation of fuel past said threaded bore and into said fuel passage means, second fuel passage means in said striker head for conducting fuel to a position where the fuel may be ignited, and means carried by the striker head for igniting said fuel.

3. A lighter according to claim 2 in which said striker head includes a valve member for shutting off the fiow of fuel from the first fuel passage means, and manually actuated latch means to release said valve for permitting fuel to flow into said second fuel passage means.

4. A lighter comprising a canister body of molded plastic, said lbody defining a chamber adapted to contain a quantity of liquid butane fuel and the like under pressure, a threaded bore in said body connected With said fuel, a striker head, fuel passage means in said head in communication with said bore upon assembly of said striker head to said body, said body including integral side sections closely surrounding said striker head to prevent rotation of said head relative to said body after assembly, a screw member received in said fuel passage means and simultaneously threadedly received in said bore, sealing means intermediate said body and head and surrounding said screw member to prevent leakage externally of said fuel passage means, said sealing means being resilient and cooperating with said screw member to permit relative translatory adjustment of the screw member in said bore permitting the screw member to comprise the sole means of attaching said head to said body while preventing leakage of fuel from said fuel passage means, said threaded bore and screw also defining a continuous helical clearance for controlled translation of fuel past said threaded bore and into said fuel passage means, said continuous celarance being shortened or lengthened in accordance with translatory adjustment of the screw member to afford regulation of the fiow volume of fuel from said fuel chamber to said fuel passage means, second fuel passage means in said striker head for conducting fuel to a position where the fuel may be ignited, and means carried by the striker head for igniting said fuel.

5. A lighter according to claim 4 in which the igniting means carried by the striker head comprises a flint and a striker wheel pivotally connected to said striker head, the body defining an opening for the reception of a spring member for urging the fiint into contact with said striker wheel, said screw member exerting a clamping effect between lower portions of the striker head and against the body, said spring exerting a resilient pressure against upper portions of said striker head generally in opposition to the clamping effect of said screw.

6. A lighter according to claim 4 in which said striker head includes a valve member for shutting off the fiow of fuel from the first fuel passage means and manually actuated latch means vto release said valve permitting fuel to ow into said second fuel passage means.

7. Lighter apparatus according to claim 1 in which said -canister body is comprised of a molded plastic.

8. Lighter apparatus according to claim 1 in which said screw member is metal and in which said canister body is comprised of a molded plastic.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kempf etal Nov. 18, 1941 Martin Dec. 25, 1945 Reilly et al Sept. 22, 1953 Wagner Mar. 25, 1958 Maskell et al. May 28, f1963 

1. A LIGHTER COMPRISING A CANISTER BODY, SAID BODY DEFINING A CHAMBER ADAPTED TO CONTAIN A QUANTITY OF FUEL UNDER PRESSURE, A THREADED BORE IN SAID BODY COMMUNICATING WITH SAID FUEL, A STRIKER HEAD, FUEL PASSAGE MEANS IN SAID HEAD IN COMMUNICATION WITH SAID BODY UPON ASSEMBLY OF SAID STRIKER HEAD TO SAID BODY, A SCREW MEMBER RECEIVED IN SAID FUEL PASSAGE MEANS AND THREADABLY RECEIVED IN SAID BORE, MEANS PREVENTING RELATIVE ROTATION BETWEEN SAID STRIKER HEAD AND BODY, SAID SCREW MEMBER UPON CONTINUED TRANSLATION INTO SAID BORE EXERTING A CLAMPING EFFECT AND COMPRISING THE SOLE ATTACHING CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID BODY AND SAID HEAD, SAID THREADED BORE AND SAID SCREW DEFINING A CONTINUOUS HELICAL CLEARANCE FOR THE CONTROLLED TRANSMISSION OF FUEL PAST SAID THREADED BORE AND INTO SAID FUEL PASSAGE MEANS, SECOND FUEL PASSAGE MEANS IN SAID STRIKER HEAD FOR CONDUCTING FUEL TO A POSITION WHERE THE FUEL MAY BE IGNITED, AND MEANS CARRIED BY THE STRIKER HEAD FOR IGNITING SAID FUEL. 